Socha Na Tha

I believe that Abhay Deol is one of the best character actors in India and he demonstrated that in his debut film Socha Na Tha. Everything about this film was good: the storyline, the acting, the music and the direction. Produced in 2005, this is an oldie, but goodie. Watch it!

This movie is a real refreshing dose of entertainment. I should start off by saying that Ayesha Thakia did an excellent job. The vivacious actress seems very down-to-earth and straightforward. There's nothing very clichéd, or "filmi," about her looks and acting. Abhay Deol also had a nice debut. He did full justice to his role of a misguided, happy-go-lucky boy, who can never get his full dose of fun. Both actors were excellent choices for playing India's youth icons. Their characters do a good job of reflecting the (shouldn't be stereotyping...) overall youth culture. They want to live life to the fullest while they are still in college. They have values and respect for their elders while at the same time knowing that it's them who needs to live their own life. They are not rebellious, yet the idea of an arranged marriage seems quite preposterous. Abhay and Ayesha share and sympathize with each other's confusion resulting from the generation gap by hanging out, having lots of fun, and, of course, falling in love. In this fun-filled movie, for the first time in Bollywood, we get to see a down-to-earth film on arranged vs. love marriage from a new viewpoint, the Indian youth. Songs are nice.

This is one of those flicks which plummets at theaters and then hits home with the viewers on DVD. Although that might be because the flick has a very understated urban appeal to it. One can imagine the movie would have been an unwatchable headache generator if it had cast the Govindas and Kareenas of the world and had been made with a high hand of melodrama. Instead, Miss Takia makes us all fall in love with her, Mr Deol included, by just twisting the pencil and being herself. Abhay puts forth a honest performance and the director truly takes us through a breezy ride, pleasant as a walk through the jungle on a windy morning. Buy a barca lounger, uncork the wine, get cozy and enjoy!

"Socha Na Tha", it came, it saw and it went away. Like me many of you would have missed it. Post-Jab We Met however rewrites the rules and I was persuaded to retrace my steps and take notice to Imtiaz Ali. Believe me - true to its title "Socha Na Tha" Imtiaz is a fine story teller indeed. Probably it was the timing of the release or perhaps it lacked the star-value owing to which it didn't get the recognition it deserved.

Abhay Deol:: A launch pad and its very much like for a first-timer. Quite confident and who anticipated that this guy would carve a genre for himself. In retrospection the failure of "Socha Na Tha" (read that as "non performance") saved the Indian Cinema of type-casting Abhay as yet another hero in the number game. So its "good riddance...." for him which made him a character actor.

I particularly liked his character which does a proper "Create a problem, solve it and then claim 'Yes I have done it!!!'".

Ayesha Takia:: For her stint in Bollywood perhaps the closest she would be proud of next to "Dor". Quite promising and a matured performance delivering at ease the director backed role.

Apoorva Jha:: Leaves a lasting impression actually - pity she wasn't seen much around after this movie. Managed to pull-off Karen quite realistically.

Ayesha Jhulka:: Wouldn't be wrong to state this Bhabhi as lovable as Renuka Shahane from HAHK. A natural transformation for Ayesha too.

The rest of supporting cast which includes Suresh Oberoi, Rati Agnihotri, Raj Zutshi, Sandhya Mridul were adequate. Nearly forgot - Vijay Maurya as well.

Not many noticed but "Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Naa" heavily borrowed the concept of "So when do you know it's love?" from "Socha Na Tha". On the same note it does bears resemblance to the "Saif-Sonali" track from "Dil Chahta Hain".

Epilogue:: Go for it - to watch the genius trotting his initial steps!

I thought this movie was going to be a typical, romantic cliché. But i was extremely wrong. Sure this movie's plot wasn't unusual but it is a romantic flick, and it has quality and plot twists, and most importantly, entertainment; and at the end of the day that's all that matters. It is a love story so there is no need to over analyze the movie. Camera angles weren't too great and neither were the songs, but the script was good and comedic (and i'm very picky when it comes to humour). The acting was fairly good. Although there weren't any really dramatic scenes, Abhay Deol and Ayesha Takia were very convincing in their roles, and best of all, no overacting which we see in most bollywood movies. I hope Deol and Takia are very successful in their acting careers.